A woman who was outside feeding the birds heard Doyle’s cries for help, he said, and summoned neighbors to rescue him with a small aluminum boat.

It was the latest in a series of problems on the water in the last few days.

According to the Maine Warden Service, Richard Dumont, 52, of North Attleboro, Massachusetts, died this weekend in Oakland, Maine when the snowmobile he was on broke through a weak spot on Messalonskee Lake.

"We always recommend people carry ice awls with them. If you don't have actual ice awls, screwdrivers on a string around your neck work just as well," Weston said. "Always wear your life jacket if you're out there, and tell people where you're going."

Greg Hanson, a hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Burlington, said high winds and not enough of a really cold stretch of temperatures have left ice conditions highly variable.

"We've got another warm spell coming up; daytime temperatures in the 40s, overnight lows may even stay above freezing," Hanson said. "So that's one of those things where any gains we might have in ice thickness—that may work against us."